


the greater the love

by gibelotte



Category: Welcome to Hell - All Media Types
Genre: Abuse, F/F, M/M, also trans Jon!, and so much else!, if you’re squirmed out by vomiting there’s some parts you’d want to avoid, the abuse isnt SUPER SUPER graphic, we can tell that I’ve never been to a party in my life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-14 17:58:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15394293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gibelotte/pseuds/gibelotte
Summary: “Jealousy is a disease, love is a healthy condition. The immature mind often mistakes one for the other, or assumes that the greater the love, the greater the jealousy - in fact, they are almost incompatible; one emotion hardly leaves room for the other.”- Robert Heinlein.Sock and Jon are seniors in high school, on a school field trip. They just want to make it to their graduation day. But of course, it can't all be smooth sailing.(Written for both the Welcome to Hell Big Bang 2018 AND the Welcome to Hell Kinkmeme)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [W2H_Meme_2017](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/W2H_Meme_2017) collection. 
  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [W2H_Meme_2017](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/W2H_Meme_2017) collection. 



> Thank you so much to the amazing people who have helped me to write and illustrate this fic, and also to my fellow Big Bang mods for making sure I didn't go COMPLETELY crazy.
> 
> My artist was the lovely Dee, who can be found at https://dippydipt.tumblr.com/
> 
> The kinkmeme prompts were 411 and 422. Two wildly different prompts. I did my best.

With a loud screech, Sock Sowachowski’s alarm clock blared to life. He dragged the pillow over his face, letting out a deep groan of displeasure as he pressed it down over his ears. _Why isn't it illegal to wake up this early?_ Sock thought to himself. He finally removed the pillow, reaching over to shut off his alarm. He blinked as his eyes adjusted to the light. Sock squinted at his alarm clock, hoping that it would read something, anything, that would let him go back to sleep for a while. But ever persistent, 6:01 AM glared back at him in an angry red he could even make out through the blur in his eyes. Sock slid on his glasses with one hand, grabbing his phone with the other. He glanced down, and his heart leapt. For once in his life, he had a text!

Jojo: hey nerd, u up?  
Jojo: wake up dude, we gotta get there early

 _Early?_ Out of all Sock’s friends, Joane was not the type of person to get out of bed on time at all, much less early. Though honestly, he reasoned, Jojo was his only friend -- but she still wouldn't get up early, even if the devil himself had asked her. So why now? 

Sock: Why tho? I want sleep. May just skip altogether.  
Jojo: b/c were goin on some RIDES dude, gotta go early to beat the lines

The realization hit Sock like a train. Of course. The first and only senior class field trip for the year was that day. To Sock, class field trips usually meant the eightieth visit to the historical farm twenty minutes away, or getting “lost” in another corn maze put on by the local farmers. It did not mean the closest amusement park to his high school, a good travel distance away. But his class had earned it last year with their fundraising -- and only seniors could go on it. 

Sock practically jumped out of bed. The only thing he liked more than staying in bed was wasting a school day somewhere else. He barely noticed the feeling of his cold hardwood floor as he raced across his room. 

Sock flung open the dresser doors. He cringed a little when they hit the wall with a sharp crack.

~*~

Being back at Rockey Road Amusement Park was just as Sock remembered. His shirt stuck to his back after the first water ride they had gone on, and his shoes clung to the pavement from the thin layer of gum that now sticky from the humidity. He wiped the beads of water from his face, and went to pull down the ears of his hat. Sock flinched a bit when he felt hands collide with his arm from behind. A voice, practically shrieking, soon followed.

“Let’s _go_ dude, we have to get in line for the Great Grizzly!” 

Sock turned slightly. Behind him was a girl, blonde pigtails sopping wet, who was currently gripping his arm like a vice. He smiled at her. 

“Jojo!” Sock yelled as she started pulling him toward the roller coasters. He started breaking into a jog to try and avoid being drug on the pavement by the girl. “Jojo, we have all day!”  
“Yeah, right, Sock. You know it’s gonna take hours for this line!” Jojo was still pulling him slightly, practically running toward where the entrance was. 

“Probably not!” Sock protested back. They entered the enclosure where the line formed, and blinked to adjust to the sudden darkness of the man-made tunnel. When they came to a screeching halt, Sock allowed himself to smile a bit. The Great Grizzly was Jojo’s favorite ride when they were kids, and it was no shock that it still was her favorite today. She loved the intensity of the rollercoaster, the different flips and turns. And, of course, they always bought the photo at the end. Always.

Their time in the line passed with relative ease, the line of their fellow senior classmates surrounding them. Most people already knew about the different decorations that were there to entertain children while waiting -- the growling grizzly bear animatronics only served to make Jojo roll her eyes at Sock every few minutes. But finally, they made their way out of the enclosure once again and stood at the loading dock. Sock stared at the cars as they were packed. Two across. Four per car. That was perfect.

“Come on! I want to get the back seats!” Jojo yelled, starting to pull Sock toward where the lines split off. Rolling his eyes, he followed, lest he get pulled off his feet again. 

“Jo, come on, you can’t just yank me everywhere,” Sock laughed, shaking his head at her. When their cart finally rolled up, Jojo was practically over the gate, bouncing excitedly. It was the first time in a long time Sock had seen her so interested in anything. It was refreshing.

The hard, cracked leather seat underneath Sock was not the most comfortable thing he had ever sat on, and the bored ride attendant didn’t help his comfort level much as he pushed the safety bars tightly against his stomach. Sock eyed the attendant nervously. He seemed to be much older than the kids, almost middle aged. He didn’t look like he wanted to be there, securing kids in rides all day. The attendant pushed down on the shoulder bars as well, and Sock squirmed. To take his mind off it, he focused on the people in front of them. Jojo had obviously noticed as well.

“Lil!” Jojo screamed into the ear of the teenager in front of her. The girl -- Lil -- turned as well as she could in the seat.

“Jojo! I didn’t even see you!” Lil said, holding on to the seat. The ride attendant’s finger hovered over the button. “This is gonna be so-” The cart went off with a loud _whoosh!_ The screams of the four teenagers in the cart practically drowned out the sounds of the wheels rolling along the tracks, and the peppy music in the background. Turns and loops made them scream louder, so loud that they didn’t even hear the sound of the wheels dragging. However, it was impossible to not hear the screech as they came to a halt. Of course, they were on top of one of the highest points of the ride. Right in the sun. 

“W-why are we stopped?” Lil stuttered, glancing to the boy next to her. Sock couldn’t get a good look at the face of the teenager in front of him, and only saw a blond head. When he tilted his head a little to the left, Sock saw the sleeve of a gray hoodie. He felt sweaty just looking at him.

The people in the other cars on the roller coaster train began to mutter and mumble. It was like they were frozen in space and time, except below him, Sock could see the other parkgoers buzz around. From his vantage point, they looked so far away.

“I don’t know. Probably something mechanical,” the guy in front of Sock started saying. It was accompanied by a heavy sigh, and Sock’s eyebrows raised slightly.

“But, Jon, don’t you think they’d tell us? Don’t they have a PA system?” Lil whined, her voice starting to gain notes of stress. She glanced nervously at the tracks, trying to find where the speakers were. The music that had been playing from under the tracks began to loop over again. Sock cringed, and the boy he now knew to be named Jon rested his head on one fist. 

“I’m sure they’re working on it, Lil. Don’t stress out,” Jojo said, reaching one hand forward to rest on the other girl’s arm. Lil returned the gesture with a small, stressed smile. Her lips pressed against her teeth, and she exhaled sharply through her nose. 

“They should be telling us! They really should!” Lil repeated, gripping onto Jojo’s hand with one of hers, and Jon’s hand with the other. Sock trained his gaze on it, feeling his stomach drop a bit.

“So… as long as we’re on here, we might as well talk?” Sock finally said, trying to distract the stressed girl. He leaned forward against the restraints as much as possible, tugging down on his hat.“I’m Sock, um, I’m sure you guys probably know that... “

“I know you,” Jon said, slowly turning as far as he could, “We were in classes together, remember? But if you _forgot_ , I’m Jonathan… or Jon. Also, you know my best friend, Lil.” At that, the purple haired girl grinned and blushed a little. She extended her arm, reaching into Jonathan’s sleeve to squeeze his hand.

“And of course, we all know Jojo!” Lil said, “But Sock, I didn’t know you… though I do recognize you now. How do you know Jojo?”

“She’s my --”

“He’s been my best friend since we were really little! There was this one time that…” Jojo started telling a story, going into a tailspin about the time when they used to chase squirrels when they were little. They hadn’t done that in a long time.

Finally, the music faded as the ride attendant’s voice took over the intercom. Jojo quickly shut her mouth. Sock closed his eyes.

“Everyone, this is Tom, your ride attendant today. Please, remain calm. There was a slight technical difficulty, it should not take long to start you all back up. Until then, please enjoy the view of the park.” 

The voice sounded practically monotone. Eyes still closed, Sock could picture the man leaning, bored, into the mic. He had a feeling they were going to be there for a while. When Sock opened them again, Jon looked like he felt the same.

“So, Jojo! What’s new?” Lil finally piped up again. Her voice was casual, but Sock noticed her hands, white knuckled around the bars. 

“Well, I have -”

“She has a new boyfriend!” Sock yelled over her. Jojo’s face darkened to a deep shade of red, her blonde hair shining even brighter from the contrast.

“I - I don’t, he’s just a friend, I don’t even think he likes bi girls, and…” Jojo trailed off when she noticed the eyes on her. 

“Is there any reason to not like bi girls? I mean, I’ve heard nothing but good things,” Jon said slowly, the words struggling to be on an even level. He sunk slowly down into his seat, now avoiding eye contact. “As a bi guy myself, I mean, I’ve had no problems.”

Sock’s eyes widened. There was a sudden pain in his chest, and he looked at Jojo with eyes the size of saucers.

“Wait, Jonathan, you’re bi?” Sock said, turning to look at him. There was an imperceptible nod back to him, practically buried in the gray fabric of his hoodie, where Sock could barely see. Jojo nodded back to her friend, with a big grin.

“That’s relieving to hear, Jon. I don’t know if he’ll even want me, though, most people tend to have a,” one tap on the guard rail, ”erm,” another, harder tap, coupled with a grimace, “ _problem_ with bi people. Since we’re just all whores and all.”

Sock could barely hear her words. Jonathan? Bi? He knew that they had barely met, but he had seen him around before and had never even thought that Jon could be bi. He seemed like just… nothing, always shuffling along in his hoodie, headphones on to obscure the world in whatever he was listening to. They had never talked, but in class, Jonathan had never let on at all! Though, Sock supposed, he hadn’t let on that he was gay either. Everyone just kind of assumed he was either dating Jojo, or he was gay because he liked skirts. His fists tightened by his side at the thought. 

“I mean, I don’t think bi girls are whores. I don’t know who would,” Lil said. She was staring down at the ground, eyes trained at the long, snaking line below them. “Do you think we’ll ever get off this ride?”

Sock shook his head, mumbling to himself, “I want to get off Great Grizzly’s Wild Ride.”

“What was that?” Lil said, still staring at the ground.

“I don’t think we’re getting off this any time soon,” Sock said, finally speaking up. His eyes were trained to the back of her head. There were beads of sweat in the hair that was laying flush against her neck. Seeing it, Sock was very, very aware of how hot his hat was, how hot _everything_ was. He was practically baking in the sun. His thighs stuck to the seat, even through his jeans. He eyed Jonathan nervously, wondering how his hoodie wasn’t drenched with sweat.

“You know, if you needed to take that off, I could help you,” Sock said, reaching out to tap Jonathan on the shoulder. “I don’t know how you can sit in that hoodie. I’m sweating to death.”

“N-no, I’m fine,” Jonathan said through closed teeth, before clenching his jaw shut tightly and gripping the hoodie sleeves with both hands. He looked at Sock warily, before finally saying through a tight lipped smile, “It’s fine, really. It’s a bit warm, but I’m always a bit warm.”

“He never takes the hoodie off,” Lil said, finally ending her gaze toward the ground to smile warmly, almost knowingly, at Sock, “He has so many of them, it’s not even funny. It’s just his style.”

“I can understand that,” Sock said, trying to make up for his mistake by smiling back at both of them, almost goofily. 

Sock couldn’t believe it, almost, but Jonathan’s smile seemed a little bit warmer after.

“It will just be a few minutes longer, everyone, we have everything under control. It was a slight electrical glitch, however, park maintenance has it under control. Just hang tight,” Tom the ride attendant droned over the intercom again. 

“You know, I don’t think it’s under control if they have to say it so many times,” Jojo piped up. Lil made a face, sitting up a little straighter as her entire body tensed.  
“I feel like it will just be hard to stand up after sitting like this for so long. I wish we could do some yoga!” Sock joked, trying to take away the tension from everyone else’s faces. Hardly anyone cracked a smile, so he added more somberly, “In all seriousness, though, shouldn’t there be a way to get us down?”

“You know, my boyfriend’s afraid of rollercoasters. After this... I don’t think I blame him,” Jonathan said slowly, looking down at the tracks below. 

“Boyfriend?” Sock asked, feeling his heart drop. Of course. Jonathan already had a boyfriend. How did Sock not know that already? Though, he wasn’t surprised. Jon was funny, and nice, not to mention the type of quiet and withdrawn that seemed to play so poorly with Sock’s dynamic, loud personality, but was attractive to him nonetheless.

“Oh, yeah, you probably know him. He was in our history class. Zack Melto, he’s on the football team…” Jonathan trailed off, letting out a small sigh at the end of his description. Sock knew him, of course, and winced a little. Zack had bullied him a bit in middle school for ‘being gay’, though not in those terms. Of course, he would end up being gay as well.

But even still, Sock had to admit that it may be a good match. Despite the pang in his heart he was aware of the fact that Zack had changed a lot. He was a star on the football team, he did his work, his group of friends was large and varied. All eyes were on him in their high school. No wonder Jonathan was dating him.

“Oh, yeah, I know him, definitely,” Sock said lamely, looking straight at Jojo with his signature ‘save me’ look.

“So, how long have you been together?” Jojo said, completely ignoring him. Sock slumped farther down into the seat.

“Oh, we’ve been together for a year and a half,” the blond replied, smiling a little at her. Sock couldn’t see his face, but when he saw Jojo’s even bigger smile, he just kept slumping, pressing against the restraints.

“When will we get off this thing?” Lil finally asked again.

Like clockwork, the voice over the intercom droned.

“Be prepared, everyone, we will be starting up again. Please make sure you are secured into the ride.”

Sock sucked in a breath, and by the time he had gone to exhale, they were already zooming down the tracks again. 

“So much for being prepared!” Jojo yelled over the whistle of the wind in their ears. Somehow, they had just enough momentum to make it up the final hill, pushed somewhat by the mechanics of the carts. Sock was somewhat surprised. He focused a bit, though, when they reached the top of the last hill and he noticed - the cameras! 

He reached out and gave Jon bunny ears, sticking his tongue out while making full eye contact with the ride cam. 

Finally, the ride swooshed to an end. The remaining stragglers in the line cheered for them. 

“You’re the first cart back. Others are still on their way from the tracks,” monotoned Tom as he helped everyone out of their restraints.

“Thank god you got it working again!” Lil screeched. She stood and bolted off the ride on the exit side. Jojo swiftly followed, and Jon and Sock were close behind.

The two boys finally made eye contact. Sock’s heart fluttered.

“So, where is Zack, anyway?” Sock said. He wandered up to the kiosk next to the rollercoaster. He was trying to keep his cool. 

“Oh, he couldn’t come - there’s a baseball game. He has to be there to support his football teammates, and we get back after the game would have started,” Jon said. He grinned at the screen in front of him. Jon looked tired, Sock was giving bunny ears. Jojo had her hands stretched wide and was making a crazy-looking expression, and Lil had a goofy grin on her face.

Lil put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at the others. Sock bought one while they talked, stuffing it into his pocket.

“Yeah, it’s a shame. It’s just us for today.” she said, looking Sock and Jojo up and down. Sock felt more uncomfortable in the heat of her gaze than the heat of the air. It was almost like she could see Sock’s heart thumping away. “Do you want to see if we can get more rides together? Some of the others are four seaters.”

“That would be awesome!” Jojo chimed in before Sock could even open his mouth. He shot her a look, and she ignored it.

“Oh, yeah. Awesome,” Sock said. Jojo grabbed onto his arm and started pulling. He stumbled a bit, and smiled goofily at Jon and Lil following along, while he got dragged away.


	2. Chapter 2

The days passed by. In his 18 years, he had never dwelled on a man more than he had dwelled on Jonathan Combs.

It was like he was magnetic. Passing Jon in the hallways drew Sock instantly toward the blond. Every time they brushed past each other on the way to class sent electric tingles down his spine.

With every passing day, his crush grew larger. With every passing day, his resentment with Zack Melto grew as well. 

“Zack never even _acknowledges_ Jon when we’re at school!” Sock complained to Jojo one late May day. The time ticked ever closer to graduation. He scribbled out the words he had written on his homework. 

“Well, maybe they want to keep fairly in the closet? Zack might not want the rest of the football players to know,” Jojo responded, not even looking up from her own homework. Her free hand knocked off Sock’s hat. Her fingers combed through his hair.

“But that’s still not even fair! Any good guy would _cherish_ him,” he whined back, “Either of us would do a better job than that asshole is doing right now.”

“But neither of us are what Jon wants. He wants Zack. And that’s okay,” Jojo said, pulling despite protests through several knots. 

Sock looked uneasily down to his homework. A love poem. It should be an easy assignment, given as filler work so that his English teacher didn’t have to keep teaching anything new to seniors who really didn’t care anymore. Jojo was doing exactly that - writing about her love for cheese and other dairy products. But he wanted to make it real.

Sock wanted to dedicate it to Jon.

“What do I even say in this? ‘I hate your boyfriend’ doesn’t translate well into a love poem,” he whined, scribbling out yet another stanza.

“Maybe write about… not him. Something else. You don’t want to make him uncomfortable,” Jojo said. She yanked out more knots. Sock squirmed and she withdrew her hand. “Do you like my poem? Guess what it’s about.”

Sock put down his own work and scanned his eyes over it.

“Really, Jo?” he laughed, covering his mouth, “This is the best! But really?”

“Gotta break up your sadness with something more interesting! I’ll go right after you.” 

She went back to petting his hair. It was like magic. For a moment, his feelings for Jonathan fell away. 

For once, he was content.

~*~

The school day was mostly when Sock saw other people. Besides Jojo, who would force her way into his house, he really didn’t branch out that much, and didn’t really have many close friends. Mostly his friends were his school friends -- and with senior year winding down, it was unlikely they would be staying friends much longer. But Sock didn’t want that. He knew what he had to do next.

In order to keep in touch with Jon, Sock was going to have to get a little creative.

The problem was, his only class with him was Senior English, where they still had assigned seats so the teacher could “learn their names”, even though it was the end of the year. He sat on the other side of the room from Jojo and Jon, of course, due to his last name not being near his. But that kind of helped Sock. He didn’t have to awkwardly sit next to Jon, even as much as he wanted to just go over there and plop down. Sock wanted to reach out and pull him close. He wanted to bury his face in Jon’s hoodie. 

Sock wanted to be friends. Or more. Preferably more.

English class, of course, buzzed by. His teacher - Ms. McCallister - obviously did not want to have to deal with the unruly jocks in the class. So, she called everyone to read their homework poems aloud, one at a time. Sock could easily zone out in this atmosphere. It was alphabetical, anyway, and he was so close to the end of the line…

There was a tapping on Sock’s desk. 

“Mr. Sowachowski?” his teacher said, staring at him a little, “It’s time to wake up. You need to read your poem now.”

Sock reddened as the jocks in the room laughed at his misfortune.

“O-okay, I wasn’t sleeping, but I can…” he trailed off, rustling through his overpacked folder and grabbing the wrinkled sheet. He tore the bindings of the paper off, tearing over the perforated edge a little. He groaned a little, and as he stood up, he locked eyes with Jonathan. And then turned a little redder.

“Well, this one is for… um…. A friend of mine. It’s a love poem like they’re supposed to be. Sorry, it’s not that good, um,” Sock said, the judgmental eyes of some peers still on him. The rest of them were zoning out, which Sock was kind of thankful for. He focused his eyes on one of his classmates, who was also in his gym class. His head was practically completely on the desk, and from his place in the front of the room he could literally see the drool puddling on the desk.

When Sock finished reading, he got the same meager applause that everyone else had. He wanted to look at Jojo, but he just… couldn’t. She was sitting right behind Jonathan, her name so close to his that they were basically partners in everything they did when it was alphabetical. So that was a no go.

Sock knew if he looked at Jonathan, he would physically burst. He flushed redder than his his scarf and fell back to his seat.

“Very good, Napoleon, very good. Now, Miss Thomas, it’s your turn…” Ms. McCallister droned, shaking the classmate that was sitting behind him. The girl stuttered and went up to speak.

~*~

“Jonathan!” 

Jon turned, blue eyes wide with shock. His hoodie seemed to dwarf him. He idled near a locker, waiting for Sock to catch up. He jogged up the teen, who somehow had seemed to disappear so easily into the crowd.

“What’s up? What do you want?” Jon said. He said it with a genuine smile, despite the harshness of his words. 

Sock paused, pursing his lips together. He hadn’t really thought of what to say, and his heart thudded in his chest.

“I thought your poem was really great,” Sock said, patting Jonathan on the elbow. Jon ripped his arm away, and the smaller boy took a hurried step back, eyes wide. _Fuck fuck fuck I fucked up oh fuck fuck fuck..._

“Sorry, I hurt my elbow recently. But, uh, thanks. Yours was good too,” Jon said, frowning at Sock. He shrugged a little, somewhat demonstrating how he was favoring his other arm.

“Thanks, um, I appreciate it,” Sock said, still staring at Jonathan with saucer-wide eyes. He managed another smile toward him.

“You know, what was it about?” the blond finally asked, finally starting to move again. The other boy marveled at how easily Jon seemed to swim through the crowds in the hallway. It was like the seas parted for him naturally.  
Sock’s heart froze. “What?”

“Your poem, Sock. What was it about?” Jon said, almost oblivious to the fact that he was practically screaming it to the entire hallway. All eyes were yet again on Sock.

“Oh, um, it was about… nothing. I just kind of wrote what I thought a love poem sounded like,” Sock said. He cringed at himself. _What a lame excuse. He’ll see right through that._

“Oh, that’s nice. Me too,” Jon said. Finally, the crowds were starting to disperse -- the bell was about to ring. Jonathan smiled genuinely at Sock that time. “This is my classroom.”

Sock’s eyes widened. A minute before the bell, and he was on the opposite side of the school.

“Okay. See you later!” the boy finally spat out. He smiled genuinely, but glanced anxiously at the classmates inside the room. Zack was there, sitting next to an open seat. His eyes were trained on Jon, of course. But Sock almost thought that Zack was glaring at him, instead of just staring at his boyfriend.

Jonathan turned and went inside the classroom. The second he did, Sock peeled off into a run.

~*~

“You know, honey,” Linda-Marie Sowachowski said from the kitchen, “I really think that you need to go out and make more friends.”

“What do you mean, mom?” Sock said. He looked at himself. Sprawled out on the living room floor, eyes glued to his phone. He seemed normal to him. And of course, he had been on the couch, but his dad had wanted to sit down. Whatever Dick Sowachowski wanted, Dick Sowachowski got. It was the rule of the house.

“I think your mother is right, son.” Dick said. He also squinted down at his son, and turned down the volume on the game. He then added, “The only girl we ever see is Joane, and while she is a perfectly nice girl, we never see you with anyone more suitable to your… tastes. Plus, you never have any guy friends over.”

“My tastes?” Sock squeaked out, staring his father straight in his eyes.

“Your father just means that she seems like too… rough… of a girl for a sweet boy like you to be dating, honey,” Linda added in, smiling at her son. She sat down next to her husband, smiling warmly at her two boys.

“Jojo is fine, mom, and we’re not dating anyway! Ugh. She’s like my sister!” Sock complained. He made a face at his parents. The thought repulsed him. _We’re not each others types, anyway!_

Dick looked at Sock from over his glasses. 

“We just want you to go out somewhere. Have a life. Stop playing on that stupid phone all the time,” his father said. There was genuine care in his voice, but the teenager was more concerned with the words.

“It’s not that I don’t have a life, Dad, it’s just that --”

“I’d just like grandchildren before I’m 70, honey, that’s all. I just want, well, a few, maybe five or six, and if you don’t meet a nice girl now, you might never get to,” Linda said. It was obvious she was trying to be gentle, and she gave him the patented I’m Your Mother And I Love You smile.

“Have you ever been to a party? Ever? Even once?” Dick blurted out. Sock reddened a little.

“Dick! Honey! That’s rude,” Linda chided, “Napoleon, sweetie, we just want you to be happy. And a party or two might be good for you before you graduate. One last hoorah, you know?”

“Yeah. I know,” Sock sighed. He sat up, forcing an uncomfortable smile. 

“Maybe if you text Joane you can find one. She seems to be a partier,” Sock’s dad said, reaching for the remote.

“Dick!” Linda exclaimed yet again. But it was too late. He was turning up the TV.

“Conversation over, I guess,” Sock muttered. He got up and trudged off to his room.

Sock: What are you up to? Mom and Dad are being Like That again.  
Jojo: ill be over in 20. be ready to go out.

~*~

“How did Lil even get into this place?” Sock whispered to Jojo. In front of them, in full view, was a beautiful old house. To the high schoolers, it was almost like a mansion. It was huge, and the woods behind it seemed to be even bigger than that.

“Jonathan, I guess,” Jojo whispered back, her eyes almost as big as his seemed to be.

When Sock had texted Jojo about his plight, strangely, she knew exactly where they had to go. She was not much of a partier, either, but Lil had invited her - as always - to one of the many parties the football team threw. 

Jojo took a minute to assess what, exactly, Sock was wearing. Luckily for her, he had the sense to dress… not as eccentric. Just plain jeans and a blue shirt. Though, of course, he still had his hat. She gave him a small smile. Before they even got out of the car, though Jojo had snatched the hat off of Sock’s head.

“Wha - hey!” Sock yelped, trying to reach for the hat. 

“No. We’re looking normal tonight. And if I have to wear this thing, you’re going out without your hat on,” Jojo said. She smoothed down the white halter top she was wearing. Her blonde hair was still as curly as ever in the pigtails, but somehow, it really made her look… pretty.

“I mean, you look nice,” Sock said awkwardly. He shoved his hat into the bag he had, and gripped it tightly. It sat at the bottom of his bag along with the rest of his clothes.

“Thanks. But you have to too. In this together,” Jojo said, holding out her hand. Sock grabbed and squeezed, and together, they kicked open the doors.


	3. Chapter 3

In the grand scheme of things, Sock thought, parties might not be so bad.

It was much larger than Sock expected in the house. Even though the exterior was huge, the interior just seemed to go for miles. And it was exquisitely decorated. Everything from the knick-knacks on the shelves to the perfectly painted crown molding seemed to be deliberate, polished, and put together. 

Sock was slightly surprised, though, to see the living room in such disarray.

A large group of his peers sat, the furniture all pulled around the coffee table. They didn’t even notice as he stumbled in.

“Okay, who’s judge now? Matt?” one girl called. She looked up at the guy she was practically draped over, and he nodded. Matt leaned forward, over the girl - Sock recognized her as being from his history class - and grabbed a card.

“Ugh. ‘TSA guidelines now prohibit, um, _blank_ on airplanes.’ Give me your worst!” Matt said, grinning as he leaned back. Sock was tempted to go join them, but instead, decided to try and find where Jojo had run off to.

As it turned out, Jojo was in the next room. Surprisingly, she was already gripping a can of beer like it was her job, and was chattering away to someone with dark purple hair.

“Lil! Jojo!” Sock said. His voice seemed to carry. Both girl looked over to him. Lil gave him a small wave, as did Jojo. Jojo’s hand clenched yet another beer can.  
“For you?” the small blonde said, handing the beer over to Sock once he got close enough. He was surprised by her kindness - and also the fact that she had already found the booze.

“How did you already get to the beer?” Sock asked. He popped it open and took a huge swig without even looking at the label, and then pursed his lips. Natty Light. Of course.

Jojo giggled a little at the face he was making. His stomach churned.

“Yeah. Forgot to tell you it was Nasty Light. Sorry,” Lil gave him a huge grin as Sock heaved a little. 

“Beggars can’t be choosers,” Sock heaved out, “but do you know where anything else is?”

“Try the kitchen?” Jojo suggested, shrugging. “Whoever owns this place probably has something.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Melto _definitely_ have something,” Lil chimed in. Sock stiffened a bit. It was Zack’s house. Jon’s boyfriend. Of course. Lil was oblivious though. She continued, “They’re pretty rich. I think I can probably find the liquor cabinet. You’re right, though, Jojo, it’s probably in the kitchen.”

There was a long, pregnant silence. Sock seemed at a loss. Finally, Jojo piped up.

“Sock, why don’t you go look? I’ll catch up,” the blonde said. She looked Lil up and down. Her “boyfriend” was forgotten. To Sock’s surprise, Lil returned the same gaze. 

It was obvious to him that she would not be catching up.

~*~

Trying to find what to do in a party when you’re stranded without your best friend was, to Sock, like trying to swim in gravel. He moved freely, of course, but it was painful, not to mention pointless. He felt ridiculous poking his head into different rooms. It was worse knowing that this was Zack’s house. 

Idly, Sock wondered as he wandered. What rooms had Zack and Jon made out in? What rooms had they eaten dinner - were they cute and out and on the couch? Buried in Zack’s room? Just friends at the dining room table? Sock’s brain raced. The place that he was standing was probably where Zack and Jon had done something - innocent or not. 

Sock drifted through the party. He waved again to Jojo as she passed, gripping Lil’s arm tightly. He felt a pang in his chest. Jojo had taken him so he could branch out, but she was just… busy. Instead, Sock continued to wander down long hallways, while Jojo ran off with Lil. There were so many rooms that were abandoned, and many more that he walked in on his classmates. He shut the door without asking what they were doing. 

Down one of those long, long hallways, in the west wing of the huge house, all Sock could hear was shouting. 

“I _saw_ you talking to him!” a voice echoed from a faraway room, “I _know_ you’re cheating! You bastard! I’m the best you’ll ever get!”

Silence swallowed the rest of the hallway. Sock couldn’t hear the other party’s reply. He inched closer, finally narrowing it down to a specific room at the end of the hall. The shouting continued. The rest of the rooms had been empty, and Sock pressed his ear against the door to listen more.

“Zack, please, I promise, I’m not cheating,” a voice pleaded from behind the door. Sock’s chest tightened. _Jonathan_. So that’s where he had gone off to, that’s why they weren’t at the party with everyone else. 

“How can I be sure? I saw you with him, even though I told you not to go near him. You’re nothing but a little whore, aren’t you?” Zack’s voice pounded its way through the door, through the walls, through the floor. He was still screaming. Sock had seen him scream before, and could practically imagine it - the spit flying from his lips, the hands balled into fists, pulling at Jonathan’s shirt. Sock’s heart turned to ice. 

“I promise, Zack, nothing happened. Babe. Please. I could never, I would never, please don’t say that.” Jon was still trying to plead with him.

 _Get out of there! Run!_ Sock wanted to scream at him. Instead, all he could hear was the continued yelling of the football player, and the soft, low pleads from the loner. One could almost mistake it for a shitty teen movie, except for the fact that they were boyfriends arguing over infidelity, and not last night’s math homework. 

“I don’t believe you!” Zack finally yelled, after Jon repeated for the hundredth time that he wasn’t cheating, and that he would never do that.

Sock had thought that the walls shook when Zack screamed.

It was nothing like how they vibrated when Jon’s head connected with a thud against them. 

Sock’s heart clenched practically at the same time as his fists. A loud whine started to escape from the room. Sock reached out, his fingers closing over the brass doorknob.

“Zack, please.” Sock could hear Jonathan whimpering through the door. He almost forced it open, but paused at the sound of footsteps, and then springs heaving. Zack must have gotten on a bed.

“Jonathan, you know what your _actions_ do to me. Are you okay?” Zack’s voice was significantly softer now. Despite the tender way he said it, Sock could only hear ice.

Sock’s breath hitched when there was pure silence from the other side of the door. 

“Leave me alone,” Jonathan croaked out finally. Sock could hear shuffling in the room, and someone rushing for the door. He froze. He was going to be caught by whoever was leaving. His eyes darted around nervously, but there was no time to run to the next room and get inside safely. He slid a bit of the way down the hall.The doorknob turned loudly, and in a panic, Sock pressed himself into the wall, hoping that it would make him invisible. He scrolled through his texts.

Jojo: dude. where r u  
Jojo: you aren’t anywhere near the party. I know cause I can’t see u.  
Jojo: have you seen jon? lil wants to know.  
Jojo: east wing.

Sock tried to make it so that the loud gulp wasn’t audible to anyone. It didn’t even matter.

“Jonathan, wait, I didn’t -” Zack’s voice was cut off by Jonathan rushing out of the room and slamming the door behind him. Sock didn’t hear him move, but could see Jon walking toward him. 

Jon brushed past Sock like he wasn’t even there. His phone vibrated. 

Jojo: dude?  
Sock: Busy. Talk to you in 5

“Wait, Jonathan, are you okay?” Sock said, jogging a little to catch up with the blond. He shoved his phone quickly into his pocket, ignoring the consistent vibration that meant Jojo was calling him. Jonathan’s hood was up, but his head was looking down. They passed through the archway and into another hallway in Zack’s labyrinth house.

“Sock? Why - what - um, what’s up?” Jonathan finally forced through his teeth, not even looking at the shorter boy. 

“I heard what happened. Are you okay?” Sock said. He tried to make his voice as tender as possible. He tried to ignore the tightness in his chest, and the way that his heart squeezed.

“I’m… I’m fine,” Jonathan said. He still bustled forward, looking at his shoes.

“Are you sure?” Sock reached out a hand to touch him on the arm as they walked. His fingertips brushed the fabric of the hoodie. 

Jon practically jumped out of his skin. He started to stare at Sock anxiously. 

“Woah, woah, I’m sorry,” Sock said. He retracted his arm, holding both hands up, and tried to smile at the other boy. 

“It’s okay,” Jonathan said finally. He looked at Sock, fear and concern in his eyes. “What do you want?”

“I… I’m just wondering. Is he like that… um, often?” Sock squeaked out. His voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard to his brain. There was no confidence behind his words. Jonathan looked toward the ground again. Silence permeated the air, though as they kept walking, they could hear more sounds from the party in the main part of the house.

 _Bad move, Sowachowski,_ Sock’s inner monologue screamed. The silence tore through his heart, and it just got louder as they wandered on and on down the hallway.

“If you, um, don’t want to talk about it, it’s okay. I-I just wanted to make sure that you were, ya know, um, okay,” the brunette finally said.

“It’s okay,” Jonathan said. It came out almost as a mumble, and he still averted eye contact.

“Um, which way do we go to get back to the main part of the building?” Sock said, looking up and down the hallways. There were so many, and all of them looked the same, sans the different paintings on the walls.

“Oh, um, here,” Jonathan said. He gave Sock a thin smile, touched his arm to guide him, and began the long descent back down to the main part of the house.

~*~

Jojo and Sock stared out at the park in front of them, illuminated in the sickly yellow-white glow of the headlights. They had been sitting in the car for a long, long time. The silence was thick, but it didn’t squeeze Sock’s heart the way that it had with Jonathan. 

“He’s being abused,” Sock said slowly. He looked down at his hands, twisting his knuckles over and over again. “That’s why I was gone, I heard their… um, argument.”

“How can you be sure? People fight all the time,” Jojo asked. She put a reassuring hand over Sock’s, the other still pulling down on the legs of her shorts. One leg had been ripped open at the party, sometime while she was with Lil. Sock didn’t even want to ask. 

“I heard screaming, and thudding, and cheating accusations. All coming from Zack. I really don’t think that that’s, um, normal,” Sock said. He sandwiched Jojo’s hand between his own, and squeezed tightly. 

Jojo looked at him with gigantic eyes. Her nails dug a little into his palm.

“That… that makes a lot of sense, but, why would Zack do that?” Jojo whispered. She looked around nervously. Even though nobody could hear them, she still looked like they were being eavesdropped on. 

“I don’t know. I just don’t think it’s safe for Jon anymore. Um. Has Lil said anything?” Sock asked. He gave a few reassuring pats to Jojo’s hand. Sock immediately regretted saying anything to her. It wasn’t her fault that Zack was doing this, she had no control over anything that anyone in that group did.

“No, she hasn’t said anything, I don’t know if she even knows,” Jojo responded. Sock couldn’t see well, but the glow of the headlights showed him that Jojo just looked stressed.

“I’m sure everything will be fine,” Sock said, partially just to soothe her, “Don’t worry too much. You’ll get wrinkles.”

“I will not!” Jojo scolded. Her voice raised several octaves, and she moved her free hand to smack him on the shoulder. 

Sock smiled. Even after the worst news, she was still herself.

“Of course you won’t, Jo. You’ll be young and sprightly forever, huh?” Sock teased. He reached over and knocked off her baseball cap, messing slightly with her hair.

“Duh!” Jojo shrieked. With that, she put the car in reverse, backed out, and drove away. Sock wished he could just do that for all of his problems.


	4. Chapter 4

_Ding!_

Sock looked up blearily as the bell rang. He hadn’t been listening at all to the presentation -- history was one of his least favorite subjects. Nobody cared about what the dead did.

It was getting close to the last day of classes. Every single day dragged on for Sock. He saw Jonathan in the hallway and smiled at him, and usually, Jon would smile back. The smaller teen couldn’t bear to see him, sometimes. While his heart fluttered with every small smile, it also sunk when he realized, every single time, what Jon was going through - what Zack was doing to him. 

Sock got out of his seat and bolted out into the hall. Today, he had something else on his mind. In front of him, Zack walked leisurely through his peers. The sea of classmates parted for him. Sock didn’t even think he was looking where he was going. He stayed paces behind the football player the entire time, save to go to his locker and pack up. 

Jojo tried to wave him down, but Sock only saw her out of the corner of his eye. _Eyes on the prize, Sowachowski, you can make it up to her later,_ he thought to himself. He tried hard not to think of the crushed face she was probably making from being ignored. His phone buzzed once, twice in his pocket. He kept staring straight ahead. Tracking.

Everyone in the hallway drifted on in their bleary lives. Zack and Jon met at the former’s locker, and Sock watched them, tucked away in a doorway. Zack smiled down his boyfriend. Jon sank into his hoodie a little. He didn’t return it. 

~*~

The parking lot was deserted, save for two cars on opposite ends.

Sock could practically see the tumbleweeds rolling past as he waited. Watched. Soon, Zack would return. Then, his plan would really begin. 

It had been a few hours since school had ended, and Zack was doing what Sock could only presume was his daily routine. Football was out of season, so there was no practice to attend. All of his friends were doing baseball, but even that had ended for the season - their school had lost too many times. Yet again. Sock surmised that going to Kroger at 4 PM was the most thrilling thing he had to do on a Friday, until everyone was free later that night.

And so, Sock waited. He watched as a suburban mom pulled in to pick up groceries, and then another. He stared dully out the window as a woman with a “can I speak to your manager” haircut - Karen, he decided - toted her small children, probably Mahkynze and Brayden, into the Kroger in order to pick up their healthy, organic, gluten free, vegan ‘snacks’.

 _Should I just leave?_ Sock thought, staring out the window still. Time was ticking on. Zack hadn’t emerged from the Kroger. He fiddled with the receipt in his lap. 

Finally, just as Sock was about to give up hope and go home, Zack emerged. The receipt crunched in Sock’s fist. Now was his time. 

He waited until Zack began to pull out, and put the car into drive. And so, they drove. The straight shot road eventually turned into twists and turns. Sock tailed at a reasonable distance. He had a GPS, anyway.

Not that he would be able to miss this place, anyway. Zack’s house was even larger in the daytime. Sock’s breath hitched as he realized that his plan had worked - Zack’s parents were out doing god-knows-what. Tennis, maybe? Croquet? Sock wasn’t sure. There was nobody home but Zack. And, of course, Sock. 

Zack never locked the door.

Sock walked right in. 

~*~ 

The funniest thing about being here, Sock figured, was that it was easy enough to hide out. It felt like Zack’s parents were absentee. He noticed on the calendar in the kitchen that they had a benefit that night - Zack was probably going to throw yet another party at his house tonight. Which, of course, worked well for Sock.

What better alibi than 100 drunk, screaming teenagers?

All Sock had to do was get Zack alone. 

That would have to wait, of course. The party probably wouldn’t start for another couple hours. Sock was careful not to use his phone, which was off and in his pocket. It had been since a few miles before Zack’s house. He tried not to imagine the texts that had piled up from his mom, and from Jojo. Would there be a text from Jon, too? Sock could only hope. He didn’t think so, though. He busied himself instead by hanging out in one of the many, many bathrooms. He figured it would come in handy later. Sock lay down in one of the tubs, and closed his eyes briefly.

When he opened them, it was to the sound of engines revving. _The party!_ Sock was right. Of course.

Sock peered out the window. Outside, out on the main lawn of Zack’s family’s estate, teenagers were starting to flood in. Sock recognized most of the boys from his grade, as well as Lil, clinging onto Jon’s arm. On her other side was a small figure, blonde. Jojo. Sock’s heart sank. She would be so heartbroken to see him. 

He turned on his phone. Everyone else was here, so he could be, too. The texts and calls started pinging in like mad.

1 missed call: Linda Sowachowski  
1 missed call: Jojo  
Jojo: why r u ignoring me?  
Jojo: I SAW that u saw me!!!  
Jojo: ASSHOLE!!!  
Jojo: r you going to zack’s?  
Jojo: I see ur car!!!  
Jojo: u’d better make this up to me!!  
Linda: Honey? Are you with Joane? 

Sock sucked in a deep breath. His fingers hovered over his messages from Jojo. But… he couldn’t do it. He decided he would respond to his mom, first.

Sock: I’m with Jojo. At our friend’s house.  
Linda: Have fun, sweetheart. I’ll put your dinner in the fridge for when you get back.

Sock’s heart melted a bit. His mom was so sweet. Finally, he bit the bullet and opened up his texts with Jojo.

Sock: I’m here. Got here a bit early, in the bathroom now, but here.  
Jojo: come find me!! 

Sock made the slow descent through the hallways and back down to where most of the people were funneling in. His mixture into the crowd was practically seamless. On his way, he picked up two beers - Natty Light, of course, but what could he do about it? Sock gripped them, one in each hand, before finally spotting Jojo. He immediately shoved one into her hands.

“Took you long enough!” Jojo yelled. Her anger was practically forgotten. She immediately jumped onto Sock. He grinned down at her, before looking up at who she was talking to - of course, Jon and Lil. His heart melted a little. 

“Hey, Jojo,” Sock said, patting her head with his free hand. He grinned at Jon from over her head. The blond grinned back. Sock’s heart melted even more. He decided to finally speak up to the other two. “What’s up, guys?”

“The sky,” Lil quipped. Jojo let out a frustrated huff, while Jon chuckled quietly under his breath.

“Of course you’d be the type to say that!” Jojo cawed. She rounded on the purple-haired girl, finally letting go of Sock’s midsection in the process. Lil backed away jokingly. 

“I’m gonna, uh, leave you two be,” Jon finally said, looking them up and down. He started to back off, before turning to walk away.

“Wait, Jon!” Sock said. His chest clenched slightly. Now was his chance to get in his favor.

“What’s up?” Jon asked, looking back to stare at Sock. The shorter teen noticed that he was obviously uncomfortable - probably because of what had happened at the last party, Sock realized.

“Oh, nothing. I just wanted to see how you were doing, um, also, what are you doing after graduation?” Sock sputtered. He had no idea what to say, and _that_ was the first thing that came to mind? He cringed internally, grimacing at his own awkwardness.

“Oh, Zack and I are going to go out. Since we’re both graduating at the same time. He thought it would be fun,” Jon said. His eyes trailed down to Sock’s grimace, and he took one step backward.

“Oh, that’s, that’s fun!” Sock said. He tried to turn his grimace into a more welcoming smile. Jon smiled a little back. His eyes were wide, but Sock didn’t even notice. He was too busy deep in thought. _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ He smiled even more pathetically at Jonathan. He managed to get out a small, “Um, I’ve got to, um, go to the bathroom.”

Sock ran off. He still hadn’t seen Zack at all during this party. Now was good of a time as ever to figure out where he was. First, though, Sock decided he would actually get to the bathroom first. He clung to his still unopened can of beer as he raced off to find a bathroom away from the main chaos. Of course, even though it was early in the night, the first bathroom he stumbled into was occupied. 

“Oh, um, sorry!” Sock yelled to his classmates who were staring, wide eyed, at him. He slammed the door and tried desperately to shut it as hard as possible. Upon finding the next bathroom, though, Sock was blessed to find that it was empty. He shut the door even harder than he had the last, holding it shut with his foot while he collected his thoughts. 

Was he really ready to go through with everything tonight? Sock thought back to Jon’s face. The sound of his body crumpling against the wall. His fist clenched hard, and the beer can got crushed a little. He wanted to make sure that he was ready. He patted down everything on his body - his phone, his keys, his trusty knife, his wallet. Everything was there. 

Sock was ready. 

Of course, though, Sock knew that he had to wait a while before everything was ready. Nobody was drunk enough yet, people would still remember an unexplained absence. 

Sock exited the bathroom. The door shut behind him with a bang. Time to make his presence known at the party. Time to create an alibi. 

~*~

Three “beers” in, and Sock Sowachowski was still sober. His new friends playing Cards Against Humanity in the corner didn’t even notice every time he switched out his neighbor’s empty beer cans for his full one. And Sock could act drunk. But there was a reason he was winning all the black cards. 

“I’m gonna get another drink,” Sock said, standing up yet again. He was ready, and it was time. He stumbled a little over to grab another beer, popping it open and taking the required sip. 

Now it was time to find Zack. Wherever he was. Sock figured that it would be easier to find Lil and Jojo - they’d know where Jonathan was, and in turn, Zack would be nearby. And then all he had to do was get him alone. 

It didn’t take much searching. 

Jojo and Lil were fairly obvious to find, even to someone who didn’t know them. Sock wasn’t surprised to see them together. He was, however, surprised to see Lil stooped over, catching Jojo in a kiss. _Finally!_ At the sight, he chugged the rest of the beer - his first of the night - and threw it into the trashcan. 

Jon was nowhere to be found. Sock’s heart sank a little. What if he was with Zack? He couldn’t bear to hurt Jon. The whole point was to stop Jon from getting hurt. 

Sock decided to go the way he had last time he had seen Zack somewhat alone. 

He began to hum to himself as he made his way down the halls. He wandered farther and farther away from the main area of the house, occasionally checking rooms. They were usually empty. 

Behind one door, though, a big brown set of eyes peered back at him from across the room. They squinted at him. Success. 

“What are you doing in here?” Zack stuttered. He was hunched over a trashcan. 

Sock shut the door quietly and locked it with a click. 

“Wait - I know you. Sock,” Zack said. His gaze hardened. 

Sock advanced slightly. He put his hand to his thigh - feeling for what was under his skirt and jean shorts. 

“What are you doing? I’m not into guys like you are, if that’s what you’re here for,” Zack stuttered. He went to stand up, and fell back to the floor. 

Sock pulled out his knife. In Zack’s eyes, Sock could almost see the steely glint from it reflected at him. Vomit dribbled slightly down Zack’s chin. 

~*~

There was a bathroom nearby, which was lucky enough for Sock. He scrubbed at the blood on his hands and arms, watching it swirl down the drain. He washed his knife clean as well, shoving it back underneath his shorts. 

Then, Sock promptly leaned over the toilet and vomited. 

Sock wasn’t ready. He had killed squirrels in the past, yeah. But he wasn’t aware of just how horrifying killing actual human beings was. 

He just hadn’t been prepared. Especially not the way he did it. 

Sock stood up woozily. He needed to get back to the party and drink more. He flushed the vomit down the drain. 

Finding his way back down to the main party was pretty easy for Sock. The stench of vomit followed him, but half the people there smelled like it, so it was no surprise when he wandered up and chugged two more beers on the spot. He thanked the Melto family for their endless amounts of alcohol. And then, he popped open another and went to go find Jojo. 

Jojo found Sock before he found her. 

“Where were you?” Jojo asked, grinning at her friend. She whipped out her phone, taking a Snapchat of everyone - Jon and Lil leaned into the picture. Jojo saved it before sending it off to her story and beyond. 

“I was playing Cards Against Humanity. And winning. Didn’t you see my snaps?” Sock countered. He drank the rest of the Natty Light he was holding. 

“Yeah, just figured you woulda gotten bored,” Jojo said. She grinned a little at Lil, who snaked over a hand to hold. 

“Nah, I’m not bored,” Sock said. He smiled at the two of them, a genuine, huge smile. But then he remembered what he had done. His smile dropped off his face. 

“Where’s the nearest bathroom?” Sock said, looking urgently at Jon. 

“Uh. This way. Come on,” Jon said. He grabbed a wastebasket - it looked hand-weaved, too expensive to be thrown up in. But Sock took it from Jon’s hands nonetheless, and the three of them followed Jon to the bathroom. 

Luckily, it was empty. Sock leaned over the toilet and threw up. 

“Too much to drink? Sock, that’s not like you,” Lil said gently. She pulled his hat from his head, trying to make sure it didn’t get caught in the crossfire. 

“Yeah, just figured I’d let loose cause it’s so close to graduation. I’m so dumb,” Sock finally said in a moment of peace. He tried hard to smile at Lil. “Just wanted to fit in this one night, ya know?”

Sock then proceeded to throw up yet again, thinking of Zack’s bloody body. He was vaguely aware of the fact that Jojo had her phone in his face. 

“Can I help you?” Sock coughed out. 

“Just wanted to document this so you know not to be this dumb ever again!” Jojo said. From the back of the crowded bathroom, Sock could hear a small chuckle from Jonathan. His heart clenched. How was Jon gonna feel? Zack’s bloody body was sprawled out on the floor. Another round of vomit hit him like a train. 

“I think he gets the point,” Lil said gently. She patted his hair. Sock gingerly sat back up, and then, shakily, stood up. Lil laughed a little, “Not all at once. You’ll get hurt.”

“I’m fine. I think we should go home now,” Sock said. He looked at his friends questioningly. “Let’s go home. Jojo, do you want to stay at my place?”

Jojo looked over at Lil, a question burning in her eyes. Lil shook her head, glancing over at Sock’s now shaking form. 

“I’ll drive you home. I haven’t had anything to drink,” Jon said finally. He smiled at Jojo and Lil, and said, “one of you needs to get me home after that, though.”

“I can do it. I’m next most sober,” Lil said. She frowned. “Normally I wouldn’t do this, but the Melto’s probably don’t want Sock’s car here. We have to leave before they get back anyway. But what about Zack? Jon...”

“I can text him. He’ll probably be hanging out for at least a few more hours,” Jon said. He whipped out his phone and typed rapidly on it, before putting it away again. “See? Done.”

Lil nodded her agreement. One by one, the friends all filed out of the bathroom. Sock clung intensely to Jon for physical support. He couldn’t ignore the squeezing of his chest as he realized how close he was to the man of his dreams. 

Or maybe that was just the anxiety. Or both. Sock couldn’t figure it out. Especially not as Jon opened the door to his car for him, letting Sock slump down into the passenger seat as Jon went to go take the wheel. 

“Don’t forget to buckle up. We’re not having any alcohol related deaths tonight,” Jon said. He smiled at Sock, an almost warm smile that caught the smaller boy off guard. Did he know?

“Of course not,” Sock stumbled. He bucked in and immediately smiled lopsidedly at the blond. “Thank you for doing this. You could be with your boyfriend, but…”

“I always get time with him. I never get time with you guys. And I want to help you. You’re wrecked, dude,” Jonathan said. It was nice to hear him talk so much. Sock just wanted him to keep talking. They devolved into conversation as their headlights got swallowed by the trees.


	5. Chapter 5

Sock slept in the next day. When he woke up around noon, though, his phone was blowing up. So many messages from so many people. Classmates he had never spoken to more than once. Obviously something juicy had happened. 

Jojo: did u see the news? Twitter is trending it in our area!!!  
Jojo: ZACK IS DEAD.  
Jojo: LIKE. JONS ZACK.

Sock’s heart dropped. Oh, yeah. 

Jon: Did u see Zack last nite? Before we left?  
Lil: Sock? Are you okay?

He figured he would bite the bullet. He made a group text. 

Sock: Does anyone know what happened last night? I can’t remember shit. 

Zack’s body sprawled across the floor, oozing blood, was fresh in his mind. 

Jon: I dunno, dude. I…  
Jon: I just dunno.  
Sock: I’m so sorry, Jon. 

Sock’s heart clenched. The poor thing. He decided to go downstairs and get some brunch. At least there he wouldn’t have to think about Zack. 

Sock was pouring the milk into his cereal when he heard his mom’s gentle approach. 

“Honey, did you know Zachary Melto?” Linda started. Sock sucked in a breath and capped the milk jug. 

“Yeah Mom, I know him. He’s in my grade. Why?” Sock said, placing the milk back in the fridge. He noticed his leftovers from last night. Still on a plate, plastic wrapped to perfection. He frowned. 

“Honey, I don’t know how to tell you this. Zachary died last night, it’s all over Facebook,” Linda said. Her voice was as soothing as possible. She reached out to pat Sock on the arm.

“Zack’s dead?” Sock asked. His voice was almost hollow, “but that’s not possible. I saw him… I saw him yesterday!”

“Yes, it’s so tragic. I just want you to know before you saw it somewhere else. I read about it online. They haven’t released his name in the news,” Linda practically stage-whispered to her son. She sat down with him, “The poor family. And oh, his poor friends! His mother must be beside herself. Do you know their address? We must send them flowers.”

“Yeah, I’ve been to their house,” Sock said. He crunched on some cereal, practically on autopilot. “Do they know how it happened?”

“They haven’t said, sweetheart. But I’m sure they’ll figure it out in time,” Linda said. Sock’s heart sunk a little, but he kept crunching away. 

~*~

The days came and went. Zack’s name was officially released in the news. The circumstances of his death were murky, per police. Vigils were planned and held, hours of prayer flitted by and grief counselors outnumbered actual guidance counselors at their school. Sock attended the vigils, spoke to the counselors. He spoke of his worry for Jon, who he saw sobbing whilst holding candles and even in the middle of their shared English class. Though he had no love for Zack, his love and worry for Jonathan kept him going to the counselors for a few days. It was easy enough to lie and say he had love, anyway. 

Sock never thought of how miserable Jon would be. Not really. Sad for a few days, yeah. But Jonathan was being abused. He had so much else to live for besides shitty old Zack Melto, who couldn’t give less of a fuck about Jon’s feelings. Only what Jon could have given him. 

Sock realized, as he looked around the hallway the following Friday, just how much of an impact Zack Melto had. 

Every locker in the school had been covered in post it notes. Members of the senior class, disturbed by his death, had stayed up all weekend preparing by writing out thousands upon thousands of post-its. They then walked into school as early as they could Monday and got to work. And every post it said something different. Something about “you are loved” felt so fake to Sock, though. Just too generic. 

And then there was the hashtag they made. #Meltostrong. As if that were inspiring. The press still hadn’t released if it was suicide or murder. The police had no leads. How was the student body supposed to stay #Meltostrong through this tragedy if they didn’t even know what it was about?

Sock felt that that was so fake. It didn’t even feel real to him. How could the community love someone so bad?

School didn’t even go on as normal. Sock wasn’t even sure that the teachers wanted to teach after this. Even they were shaken by it. He almost felt bad for the destruction he caused. 

Sock wondered if the yearbook committee would make a special page for him. He knew they would send out separate pages to stick in anyway, with pictures of graduation. He could bet that one page would be just a memorial to Zack. 

It didn’t matter. The bell rang. Class was starting. Sock’s teacher droned on and on, before finally giving up and putting in a movie. He put his head down. 

~*~

Sock whipped out his phone during the last period of the day. 

Sock: Do you need anything?  
Jon: Nah. I’m fine.  
Sock: We can get food and vent? You seem like you need a friend who will just listen.  
Jon: … Okay. 

Sock grinned to himself. He tried hard to hide it behind his hands, and turned his attention back to the fourth movie of the day. This was a turn for the better. 

~*~

Sock and Jon had taken just two steps into the restaurant when the stench of peanuts hit them like a wall. The blond grimaced, scrunching his nose up. They managed order and sit without much trouble, though Jon seemed to bury his entire face into his hoodie whenever the person at the counter wasn’t looking. 

“Are you suuuure you don’t want some peanuts?” Sock asked, grinning at Jonathan. He grabbed the scoop from the giant barrel nearby, and waved it jokingly in the direction of their table. “You know you want them!”

“I’m good, thanks,” Jonathan said. He put his head in his hands, giving Sock a deadpan glare through between his fingers. Sock’s heart sank a little, and he sat back down awkwardly at the table. He passed Jonathan a cup of ketchup for his fries.

For a while, all they did was mechanically shove fries into their mouths. The only sound in the entire restaurant was loud chewing and the sound of the last dregs of soda, sucked through a straw. 

“So,” Sock forced out through a mouthful of potato, “are you okay?”

Jonathan stared at him. He slowly took another sip of his soda refill before he decided to speak.

“No. I don’t think I am. I can’t believe he’s gone,” Jonathan said slowly. He frowned and continued, “Do you remember what happened that night? I should have been with him. I can’t believe he’s gone. They won’t… they won’t even tell me what happened. Since we weren’t out.”

Sock’s heart broke a little. Was Jonathan not grateful? He had been being abused. That was indisputable. But he was still sad?

“Do you have any guesses? Dude. It might be better if you just… talk. That isn’t easy,” Sock said. He tried to match the pace of Jon’s slow words with his own. It wouldn’t help if he scared him. 

“Lil thinks he killed himself, but it was on the news, so wouldn’t that mean that something suspicious happened? They don’t talk about suicides on the news. Unless… unless it’s something really bad. But why would he even kill himself? He had me, he had a football scholarship, he was going to go to college, we had plans,” Jonathan’s words were flying out faster than Sock could process them. Jon rubbed his hand against his face and shoved fries into his mouth even faster to distract himself.

“Sometimes we don’t really talk about our hardest battles. Who would even hurt him, if it was… something else?” Sock said. His question came out almost as a whisper. He didn’t want Jonathan to even have to think about it.

“I don’t know. I mean, nobody there would hurt him. They all really liked him. They all think he was such a great guy,” Jonathan said between bites. 

Sock reached out a hand and touched Jonathan gently on his arm. Jon’s hoodie fabric crumpled under his fingertips. Sock idly wondered how Jonathan could even wear a hoodie in such hot weather. 

“It’s okay, dude. You’ll get through it,” Sock said gently. He gave him a small half smile, and continued, “The most important thing is that we get through this school year, and graduation, right?”

Jonathan nodded. They finished their meal in silence.


	6. Chapter 6

Jonathan’s house wasn’t as big as Sock thought it could be. It was almost just a normal house - the complete opposite of what Zack’s had been.

Family pictures adorned the walls of Jon’s house. His mom and dad looked sweet enough. There were plenty of pictures of a young girl all over, as well as an older girl. He kept looking for actual pictures of Jon. Finally, he started to see the younger girl look more and more like a tomboy. She looked so familiar. She almost looked like Jonathan - same sun-streaked brown hair they had when they were pre-teens, though he dyed his now. Same brilliant, large blue eyes. Eventually, going through the pictures, Sock recognized Jonathan staring back at him, still alongside the older girl.

“Who’s she?” Sock finally asked, pointing to a grinning teenage girl. Her braces were bright pink, and next to her, a pre-teen Jonathan was making a goofy expression at the camera. They looked so happy. Sock smiled at the picture, his eyes crinkled. He wished he had gotten closer to Jonathan sooner. 

“Oh, that’s my sister. Cecelia. She’s a bit older than us. You probably know her, actually. She was a senior when we were freshmen?” Jonathan smiled a little at the picture, touching the frame and straightening it a little. “She’s in college right now. Should be home soon, her exams are this week.”

“That’s cool! I didn’t know you had a sister.” Sock continued wandering around. He pointed to a picture of the two younger girls, “What about your other one, there?” 

“Oh, that’s,” Jonathan’s breath caught in his throat. He leveled his eyes at Sock, leaned against the wall, and exhaled sharply, “That’s me.”

“Oh, okay,” Sock said. He shrugged, “So, which way to your room? I wanna see what cool stuff you have!”

“Ugh, okay, it’s this way,” Jonathan started down a hallway. He was still breathing heavily, almost anxiously. When he reached the end, he pushed open the door.

The first thing Sock noticed was the band posters. Everywhere. An acoustic guitar was in the corner, propped against some books. A laundry basket was tipped on its side. Sock grinned. He was so normal. 

“You can play the guitar?” Sock asked. He wandered over to pick it up, sitting down on Jonathan’s bed. 

“Oh, yeah! It’s really fun!” Jonathan actually smiled at Sock. He took the guitar away from him.

“Could you play me something?” Sock asked. His stomach exploded into butterflies once Jonathan nodded vigorously.

“Of course,” Jon hummed. He sat down on his bed and began to play.

~*~

They were laying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Jonathan had glow in the dark stars glued everywhere, almost haphazardly. 

“I mean… I know he wasn’t too good to you,” Sock said awkwardly, his voice low and soft, “So do you think that Zack… do you think he could have been hurting someone else? Or had in the past?”

Jonathan’s eyes widened. He began to babble, almost incoherently due to how fast he was speaking.

“I mean - he only did that ‘cause he cared about me! He just wanted to show how much he cared, he wanted me to snap out of whatever was happening, he wanted me to realize how much my actions -” Sock cut Jonathan off with a quiet ‘shhh!’. His finger pressed to Jonathan’s lips.

“I don’t think so. But that’s okay. Maybe he just couldn’t handle the stress of high school. That’s okay,” Sock said. His heart was practically in his stomach. How could he have been this insensitive to him? Jonathan was crying now. He rolled over and buried his face into Sock’s chest. The smaller boy froze, took a deep breath, and practically whispered, “I’m sorry I brought it up.”

“It’s okay,” Jonathan said through tears, “I just don’t know anymore.”

~*~

Pomp and circumstance was Sock’s least favorite song. Ever. 

He had been a band geek through most of his time in middle and early high school. Every school in their area had the middle and high school bands play, combined, at the high school and middle school graduations. So Sock went through the motions in his head. He made eye contact with the different underclassmen who looked incredibly bored as they went through the commencement speeches. Usually, they were the same ones every year, so Sock kind of zoned out. He couldn’t even see Jonathan in the crowd of his classmates. He tried peering up toward the front rows - a C last name usually meant that you were toward the front, in alphabetical order. But he couldn’t see.

“Now, unfortunately, this entire community knows the horror we have gone through this past month,” the principal droned into the microphone. Sock froze. A change of plans? That had never happened, not in the entire time he had been playing graduations.

“What is this?” he whispered to his neighbor. The girl next to him shrugged, snapping her gum loudly.

“It might be about Zack?” she whispered back. Sock froze, nodding his head.

“Losing Zackary Phineas Melto was one of the hardest things this community has had to go through in recent years. He was a star on the football team, a likeable young boy. He got full ride scholarships and was so beloved by everyone he met. That is why, today, I would like to present his parents with his degree. He was stolen from us too soon. He could have changed the world,” the president continued to drone. Most of the audience stood up, screaming and applauding their generosity, as Zack’s teary mother and stoic father went up to accept the high school diploma. Sock couldn’t even look, his head down as he clapped alongside the rest of his classmates.

“This. Is. So. Awkward,” Sock whispered to the girl. 

“Could be worse. Could be an entirely separate ceremony,” the girl whispered back.

They sat down and continued. 

“The moment you have all been waiting for has arrived. The conferring of the diplomas will be done by…” the principal began to blather on. Sock didn’t even care. He began to space out again. One by one, in line, his classmates walked across the stage. Pomp and circumstance played in piano, so that they could still hear the names being called.

“Jonathan Lee Combs,” the vice principal intoned. Sock froze, and his eyes flicked up to watch. Jonathan wandered across the stage. He took the diploma, shook hands with everyone, and then lumbered off the stage. It was almost weird to see him in something other than a gray hoodie. He looked nice in the deep red gown.

Sock didn’t think he looked anywhere near as nice. He didn’t feel nice, anyway. Just sweaty.

Finally, Sock’s row was motioned to stand up and line up to go. He adjusted his robes, checking slightly in the middle of the crowded gym to make sure he didn’t have sweat all over him. It was so warm in that room. One by one, his classmates shuffled forward, went up to receive their diplomas, and then wandered back to their seats.

“Napoleon Maxwell Sowachowski.”

Sock was so zoned out that he didn’t even notice his name had been called.

“That’s you! Go!” the girl who had been sitting next to him whispered. She shoved him forward. 

Sock stumbled up the steps and onto the stage. The lights beat down on him, and he squinted. He somehow felt even warmer up there, under the heat of the fluorescents. He plastered a giant smile on his face, took his diploma, and shook hands. He took the two steps off the stage gracefully. Then, of course, Sock noticed - everyone who walked had to stop for the picture. He had forgotten. Sock held his diploma up, grinning at the camera. He went slightly blind when the flash went off.

Then, Sock returned to his seat. He zoned out again.

Sock hoped Linda and Dick were proud of him.


	7. Chapter 7

The worst part about graduating was how much everyone wanted to see you. Just you. It was like graduation wasn’t for you - it was for everyone else. 

After days of nothing but extended family coming up to him and saying “oh, how you’ve grown!” and “congratulations, kid,” Sock wanted nothing more than to just collapse in bed. But Sock’s life never worked out the way he wanted it to.

Instead, Sock found himself at yet another graduation party. This one was Jonathan’s. Even though he was so, so tired, Sock felt blessed to be able to go. 

The only problem was, Sock felt like he was in a blur the entire time. He hung out with Jojo for a while. She was, of course, attached at the hip with Lil. 

“It’s amazing,” Jojo said to Sock for the hundredth time, “We were holding our diplomas, and Lil, she just -”

“I know, Jojo. I know she came up and asked you out. I know,” Sock grinned at her, “When are you going on the date, anyway?”

“Well, I think we’re going to go to the zoo next week,” Lil finally spoke up. She continued on, softly telling Sock about what she had planned. Jojo was bouncing on her toes, she was so excited. Sock had barely ever seen her like that. It was like Lil had cracked her tough shell.

They continued on like that for a while, but finally, they hadn’t seen the man of the hour in some time. Sock was starting to get concerned. He wandered away as Jojo was mid-sentence, telling another classmate about her relationship. The last thing he saw, looking over his shoulder, was Jojo beaming and Lil blushing.

Sock was glad that they were happy, at least. 

Jonathan’s house, while smaller, felt like such a maze when it was packed full of people. There were people outside, too, and Jonathan wasn’t among them. Finally, Sock made his way past the wall of photos - now covered in streamers - and knocked twice on Jonathan’s door.

He entered. The door shut softly and, with a click, Sock locked it.

Jonathan was hunched over on the bed, his head in his hands. He didn’t even look up when he heard Sock enter. The smaller teen wandered over, putting one hand on Jonathan’s arm.

“Is it wrong that I’m glad he’s gone?” Jonathan asked. His voice sounded so small, so muffled from behind his hands.

“No. No, it’s not wrong at all,” Sock said gently. His hand slid across Jonathan’s back, and his other hand took up his arm. Sock pulled Jonathan into a tight hug.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, before Jonathan shrugged out of the embrace and laid back again, staring at the ceiling. His eyes were puffy and red. Sock’s heart froze, and he ground his teeth together. He decided to just lay down next to him.

“I just feel like such a bad person for being happy,” Jonathan whispered. The words barely left his mouth before Sock enveloped him, again, into a hug. 

“You shouldn’t feel bad for being happy. He seemed to really hurt you,” Sock whispered back. He moved his arm out from where it was pinned underneath him and reached up to pat Jonathan’s head.

“I - I mean, he had his good points, I guess,” Jonathan whined out. Sock had never seen him this emotional. “But really, I mean, he just… he hurt me. A lot.”

Sock nodded vigorously. 

“I understand. It can be hard. But we’re all here for you. Everyone at this party, everyone at the school. Even if they don’t know what he… did… they can still be here for you,” Sock said. 

Jonathan hummed in disbelief. 

“I just don’t know.”

“It’s okay to not know.”

They lay there for a while. Sock didn’t even know if he wanted to rejoin the party. He was nestled against Jonathan, his hand in the blond’s hair. He had no intentions of moving. And neither did Jon.

~*~

Summer was going faster than it ever had before. It was mid July, though, when Sock got the text.

Jon: Can u come over?  
Sock: Oh. Yeah. Why?  
Jon: Just come over. 

Sock tried not to get too excited. Jonathan probably just needed someone to break up the monotony of the summer. He couldn’t be looking to meet up just to hang out, right? He decided he was just bored. 

That didn’t stop Sock from driving as fast as humanly possible to Jonathan’s house, though. 

When he finally pulled in, Jonathan was standing outside, holding bags. Sock grinned despite himself. He rolled down the window as Jonathan ran over to the car. 

“What’s up?” Sock asked as he parked. 

“Don’t get out yet. Here. We’re going somewhere,” Jonathan said. Sock furrowed his eyebrows. This was unlike him. But he would be able to go out somewhere with him! Sock’s heart was skipping beats at the idea. Jonathan got in the front seat and then passed him the bags that he was holding.

“Um, okay. Where are we going?” Sock said, looking the blond up and down. He looked almost excited.

“Give me your phone. It’s a surprise,” Jonathan said. Sock raised an eyebrow.

“Um, okay,” he mumbled. He pulled out his phone and opened up the Maps app he had. Jonathan plugged something into the phone.

“Proceed to the Route!”

Sock’s eyes widened. Where were they going?

“Um, right or left?”

“Right.”

Jonathan dug an aux cord out of his pocket, and figured out how to plug it into Sock’s car. Valhalla’s Soundbox blared over the speakers.

For a while, Sock drove to the tune of Siri’s voice and Jonathan’s music. Jon was silent save for some comments on whichever song came on.

Finally, after a ton of different turns, they made it.

“Arrived!” Siri pinged. Jonathan grinned.

“Do you know where we are?” the blond asked. Sock parked in the nearest spot and looked around. The place was practically deserted. 

“Um, no?” Sock got out of the car and looked around more. He looked at the large fences that surrounded where they were about to go, and a large building with restrooms.

“Look harder,” Jonathan said airily. He grabbed the bags and got out of the car himself. Sock took a deep breath, and then made a face. Saltwater?

“Are we at… the beach?” Sock furrowed his eyebrows. He looked Jonathan up and down as he locked the car. He was beaming. 

“Of course we are, come on. I brought swim trunks for you,” Jonathan said. His smile actually made Sock smile a little bit, too. But underneath that, Sock was nervous. He wasn’t sure if he could control himself if he saw Jonathan in a bathing suit. Plus, he wasn’t sure if Jon would even want to see him in one. But his heart melted a little when he saw how earnest Jon looked.

“Okay. Of course. Let’s go,” Sock said. He trudged off over to the men’s changing rooms. Jonathan followed behind, hesitating slightly. Sock grabbed the trunks from him and then disappeared into one of the stalls - Jonathan chose one far away from him.

Luckily for Sock, the trunks that Jonathan provided fit. Even if they hadn’t, Sock would’ve tried to make it work. He couldn’t let Jon down. He just couldn't.

Sock was even more excited when he saw Jon poke his head out of the changing room door. He had swim trunks on, as well as a t-shirt. Sock grinned. He looked great.

“Are you ready?” Jonathan asked. Sock continued to look up and down Jon’s body. 

“Ready as I’ll ever be!” Sock replied. He grinned at the blond. They made their way out to the actual beach.

“Why is it so deserted here if it’s the middle of the summer?” Sock finally asked. The beach was almost completely deserted. Far down the sand, they could see a family, two kids playing in the water while the parents watched. Other than that, it was completely empty.

“This is one of the lesser known beaches here. My family used to come here all the time because of that,” Jonathan said shyly. He laid out a large beach blanket and handed Sock a towel. “Do you want me to put some sunscreen on you? You’re going to burn without a shirt like that…”

Sock blushed.  
“I mean, sure,” Sock said. His blush went even deeper red than a sunburn as Jonathan grabbed a bottle of sunscreen. Jonathan grabbed one of Sock’s hands and turned it palm up.

“For your front!” Jon called. He squirted a copious amount of sunscreen into Sock’s hand. Then, he covered his own palm in it and began to spread it across Sock’s back. Sock didn’t even dare to breathe, in case his heaving back or flushed red face spelled the end of Jonathan’s touch. He stayed as still as possible save massaging the sunscreen into his own flesh.

Sock never wanted it to end. 

Of course, though, it had to, and Sock let out his breath and grinned back at Jon.

“My turn to do you?” Sock asked with a grin. Jonathan nodded his consent, and offered up the sunblock. They switched the direction they were facing so that Sock could apply the sunscreen.

“You know,” Jonathan said as Sock’s hands went slightly under his shirt. He was trying to get the small of his back, but really, it just felt like he was trying to be a little bit gay. “I’m glad I decided to make you go here.”

“I’m happy I decided to go along with it!” Sock said. He spread the rest of the sunscreen on his hands across Jon’s neck. He was careful to avoid the blond’s darker undercut. 

“So now that we’re here, what do you want to do?” Jonathan asked. He turned back around and smiled at Sock. He was crosslegged on the blanket, and Sock’s eyes drifted down, before snapping back up to look at Jonathan’s face again. He blushed yet again.

“I know exactly what I want to do!” Sock said, grinning at Jonathan. He sat up a bit, kneeling down with his butt on his feet.

“What is that?” Jon asked, grinning back. He seemed almost genuinely confused, though, and Sock hesitated.

“This.” 

Sock leaned forward, hand sinking into the sand. He stabilized himself by placing the other one on Jonathan’s shoulder, leaned in further, and kissed him right on the mouth.

Jon moved back sharply, staring at Sock with wide eyes.

“I, uh, wait, um,” Jonathan stuttered out. Sock’s blush that had been going away just went right straight back to his face. He couldn’t believe he was that stupid! _Of course Jonathan wasn’t going to --_

Jonathan leaned back in and kissed Sock right back. He pushed him back into the sand and cupped the smaller teen’s face in one hand. Sock’s heart fluttered, and for once, he could bet that Jonathan’s was doing the same.

For the first time since laying eyes on Jonathan in that rollercoaster, Sock finally felt okay. He kissed Jonathan back with all of the passion he could muster.

Sock had a feeling he was going to be feeling okay for a long, _long_ time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit guys. This has been a wild ride. I didn’t want to post it all at the same time but I’m just having too much fun with it.


End file.
